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of us live through. These writer-reader
meetings are quite unlike those bestseller
shows organized by big companies in malls
and supermarkets.
- In the Black Sea region in the Northern
part of Turkey, there is an important mining
area. Over the years many accidents have
occurred at theses mines. In 1983 two
major accidents tragically claimed nearly
150 lives. I was very moved by the plight
of the miners and their families and found
out from the news that if the father died at
the mine, the unborn baby in the mother’s
womb was named “Yadigar” which means
“Remembrance”. I then wrote several
poems related with the suffering of those
people, one of which was entitled “Child of
the Miner”.
Sometime later I was visiting a district
in that area for a reading session.. The
auditorium belonging to the trade union
was full, and amongst the audience were
children from nearby villages. During the
question session, a young girl of around
10-11 years of age raised her hand. When
given the opportunity, she spoke with
excitement: “I won’t ask a question. I read
your poem “Child of the Miner.” My father
is also a miner. We thank you for writing
poems for us.”
I was in Germany to attend several reading
activities in a number of cities. Whilst
travelling from Frankfurt to Cologne, we
were caught in a heavy downpour and
found sanctuary in a gasoline station. At
the cafe there, a woman heard us talking
Turkish and came across. She was a
middle-aged woman, working in the
kitchen and she evidently came from the
Turkish countryside. My friends introduced
me to her. When she heard my name she
was astonished and replied, “Gülsüm
Cengiz! The Colour of the Mediterranean
is Blue!” (It is the name of one of my
poetry books). This was an unexpected
coincidence. We talked for a while; and
it appeared that the worker woman had
read many classical novels and books
including my poetry collections. She was
the “educated worker” that Brecht wrote
about in his poem.
Many more similar examples can be cited.
The important point is that neither I nor
my writings have ever been introduced to
the public via instruments like the mass
media. So, how did the writer and reader
manage to form such a strong link? How
did the writer connect with those people
from different walks of life? My answer to
it is short and simple: By writing from life.
If your writings emanate and feed from life
itself, they will most certainly attain a true
response in life.
“Literature for life”; can be defined as
literature which focuses on human life,
relates to the social life or human-nature
relations and conditions, examines the
place of humans in social sphere, together
with the hopes, longings and struggles
of its subjects. Literature feeds from
the totality and richness of life itself.
Literature which stands for life against
death, peace against war, brotherhood
against racism, tolerance and love against
enmity and prejudice, freedom against
oppression. In short, we are here talking
about a socialist-realist and humancentred
literature for the general masses.
I would like to quote from the great poet
Nazim Hikmet who said:”It is no doubt, very
hard to pinpoint even one great writer who
stood neutral and passive in the face of the
problems of his age. You can talk about
being neutral, but objectively, you can never
be neutral. And I prefer taking a side.”
The important thing is the choice you make
with respect to whose side you are on. If a
writer reaches out and grasps people in his/
her works, people will inevitably sooner or
later reach him/her. What can we convey to
others if we lose even ourselves in “trendy”
personal depressions, in chaotic works with
no relevance to time, place or humanity?
Books, which are deemed economically
viable, fit for market economy, books
whose subjects and styles are determined
by best-seller lists and publishers... How
much do these testify to the actual lives of
masses of people, and how do they cover
the needs of people? In fact writing in
accordance to commercial targets destroys
the freedom of writing and creativity....
We should not complain but look at
ourselves. If we produce works which
a genuine touch in life, those works
themselves resonate in life and can create
links with people. I have repeated this fact
many times. In 1995, most unexpectedly
I was awarded the “Troy Poetry Prize”
determined by a reader-jury. My book
“Days of Ayse” was chosen by the BAOBAB
International Children’s Book Fund,
translated into German and published
in Switzerland and Austria in 1997. That
same year it won an award in Germany. My
choice of subject was “conscience and life”
and its target was the reader.
It is true that today those conditions for
writers are harsh. There are many direct
and indirect obstacles between the real
reader and writer. But we can reach
readers regardless of them.
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How can we as writers resist the market
economy in publishing industry and still be
able to reach out to the readers? I believe
we should act together and organize e.g.
writer - publisher organizations, reader -
writer organizations... Works of democratic
organizations and democratic media would
present good opportunities. When I was the
General Secretary of the Turkish Writer’s
Syndicate, we organized several activities
held in many trade union centres and some
workplaces. Also, members of the teachers
union in Turkey, Egitim-Sen have been
organizing writer-reader activities in their
schools which enable us to reach the young
reader. Similar initiatives can be found in
every country.
I think we should maintain strong selfesteem
and resist the dehumanization
of publishing monopolies including the
bestseller system. The important thing
here is life itself and the biggest reward
for us is the reader’s absorption and
appreciation in our works.